Synonyms: renounce, relinquish, dispense with, forswear, disclaim, disown, disavow, discard, wash one's hands of, give up, stop, cease, drop, forgo, desist from, have done with, abjure, abstain from, discontinue, break off, refrain from, set/lay aside, desert, leave, leave high and dry, turn one's back on, cast aside, break (up) with, vacate, quit, evacuate, withdraw from, surrender, cede, yield, indulge in, give way to, give oneself up to, yield to, lose oneself to/in, uninhibitedness, recklessness, lack of restraint, lack of inhibition, unruliness, wildness, impulsiveness, impetuosity, immoderation, wantonness
Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on
Showing 4451 to 4475 of 4986 results
4451. Made for Joy
Philippians 4:2-9
Sermon
King Duncan
... joy comes from within, but external joy comes and goes with whatever is happening in our environment. It is extrinsic because it arises from the outside. When the circumstances change in one direction, joy comes. When fortune reverses, joy leaves. Internal joy stays with us regardless of our external circumstances. (7) Pastor Anthony Evans tells about the night that darkness descended on New York City during the blackout of 2003. It was a chaotic night, you may remember. Evans happened to be there that ...
4452. Hope Again!
Zephaniah 3:1-20
Sermon
Derl G. Keefer
... disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will fear disaster no more. — Zephaniah 3:14-15 (NLT) Hope to press on ... hope to endure ... hope to stay focused ... hope to see dreams fulfilled ... that is what God is giving them in the midst of judgment and despair! That need still exists! In a world filled with hopelessness and abandonment, we need to hear the voice of God saying that he will live among us ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... is the guide to all that we need, all that will sustain us. Jesus’ description of himself as the vine and we as the branches, expressing our need to always remain connected to him, brings us both consolation and challenge. It is a challenge for we must follow and stay connected, but if we do, we have the promise that where Jesus resides we will one day be. The image of Jesus as the “Bread of Life” (John 6) helps us to know that he is our spiritual sustenance. We can always go to him with any and all ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... stage, with Mary astride. The narrator told the story of how Caesar Augustus had ordered a census of the whole world, and it was necessary for Joseph to travel with Mary, his pregnant wife, to Bethlehem to register. Upon their arrival the couple looked for a place to stay but could find no room in the local inn. As the play continued, Caitlin’s parents wondered where their daughter was. Based on what she had said, they were sure that she would have the role of Mary or one of the shepherds, but so far she ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... he is the guide to all that we need, all that will sustain us. Jesus' description of himself as the vine and we as the branches, expressing our need to always remain connected to him, brings us both consolation and challenge. It is a challenge for we must follow and stay connected, but if we do, we have the promise that where Jesus resides we will one day be. The image of Jesus as the "Bread of Life" (John 6) helps us to know that he is our spiritual sustenance. We can always go to him with any and all ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... his great surprise and joy when he opened the door he saw the vision of God was still there waiting for him. The monk dropped to his knees in thanksgiving. God said to him, "My son, had you not gone off to feed the poor, I would not have stayed." As we light the fourth candle on the Advent wreath and make our final preparations for the celebration of Christmas, let us consider what we need to do to be more obedient— to the people and the ideas of our society, but most especially to Christ. Let us realize ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... stage, with Mary astride. The narrator told the story of how Caesar Augustus had ordered a census of the whole world, and it was necessary for Joseph to travel with Mary, his pregnant wife, to Bethlehem to register. Upon their arrival the couple looked for a place to stay but could find no room in the local inn. As the play continued, Caitlin's parents wondered where their daughter was. Based on what she had said, they were sure that she would have the role of Mary or one of the shepherds, but so far she ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... . We may face obstacles that will not allow us to work as we want. Coercion, threat, or the temptation of reward may "force" us to do things in a manner that we know might hurt or ill-effect another. We may be required to relocate in order to stay with the company or worse still our job might be lost. At such times we wonder what we will do and what the future will hold. Families experience many difficult challenges. Some people are asked to walk the road of ill-health with a spouse, child, sister, brother ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... would want to know. They were odd people and difficult to understand. The way they lived their lives was a shame. These men all went to the same church, but most people would not have wanted them as parishioners. Everybody went fishing on Sundays or stayed home and chatted with his friends. Anybody wanted to worship, but he was afraid that Somebody would speak with him. Thus, guess who went to church — that's right, Nobody. Actually, Nobody was the only decent one of the lot. Nobody did the parish census ...
4460. Transformed to Christ
2 Corinthians 3:7-18
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... to defend himself against the theology of a band of "super apostles" who have infiltrated the Corinthian Christian community preaching a theology different than that of Paul. Paul tells the Corinthians that they should not become deluded with these false teachings but rather must stay on the true path. He uses the story of Moses in the desert and his conversations with God to illustrate his point. He says that Moses used a veil to cover himself after he spoke with God so the Israelites would not behold the ...
4461. Heaven on Earth
Revelation 21:1-6
Sermon
Steven E. Albertin
... compassion and charity was able to bring a little heaven to earth. I recently heard a story about an urban congregation in a changing neighborhood of one of our eastern cities. The congregation had decided not to flee to the suburbs but to stay in the city and serve the needs of its crumbling neighborhood. The congregation had decided that in order to save souls, it had to start by saving its neighborhood. As a result, the church council decided that instead of repairing aging stained-glass windows ...
Sermon
Charles L. Aaron
... like this, "If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk." Colossians exhorts us to walk in Christ. The image of walking makes us think of exercise. We have to keep our relationship with Christ in shape. Walking implies movement. We cannot stay in the same place. Our relationship with Christ takes effort; it is not static. This is sound teaching for all Christians. The next image in verse 7 comes from the construction industry. Colossians encourages us to be rooted, built up, and established in Christ ...
Sermon
Scott Suskovic
... with him in his home. During the course of our talk, he pulled out a coin from his pocket and showed me it. In the center was a big number twenty. He said, "I took my last drink twenty years ago. I'm an alcoholic." "How did you manage to stay sober?" I asked. "AA, and by the grace of God," he said. "Twenty years. That's a long time," I said. Tom replied, "I don't think of it as twenty years. It is one day at a time. My goal each morning when I get up is to make ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... and Lord of Lords? Or to put it differently, is someone or something else enthroned in that King’s Chair? Matt Ragland tells the story of a community of wise monks who lived in the desert. A man one day arrived at the monastery, asking if he could stay and learn wisdom from the monks. The old abbot came out and greeted the traveler, then asked why he had come. The man answered, “I want to be wise, but I only have the weekend.” The abbot smiled, because many men hoped for the wisdom which had taken ...
Sermon
David J. Kalas
... period. Perhaps the generation of the Assyrian threat or of the Babylonian exile. The Jews of that day were a victimized lot. Too weak to fend for themselves, they needed constantly to cast their lots with neigh­boring nations, hoping to stay afloat by holding onto someone else's driftwood. Perhaps the Arameans could stave off the Assyrian on­slaught. Perhaps the Egyptians could intercept the Babylonians. If only the Edomites had not been so duplicitous. Long gone were the conquering days of Joshua ...
Sermon
David J. Kalas
... him. He also spoke very specifically about Peter denying him. What could it all mean? Then they went out of the city and up into the Mount of Ol­ives. It was late in the evening and the disciples were tired. But Jesus was eager to stay in a garden there and pray. He went off by himself, returning occasionally to awaken his drowsy followers. Then, suddenly, the quietness of the place was shattered. It all happened so quickly: torches, spears, and clubs; menac­ing guards accompanied by Judas; a kiss and a ...
Sermon
David J. Kalas
... she heard. She is often identified, as a result, as the first European convert to Christianity. It was she who, subsequently, insisted on housing Paul and his friends in her home for the remainder of their time in Philippi. On another day during their Philippi stay, Paul and his friends were again going to the place of prayer, but as they walked, a young woman began to follow them, making a great commotion. Appar­ently she was the victim of some evil spirit, and her master capital­ized on her condition ...
Sermon
Chrysanne Timm
... with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he him­self carried the fire and the knife. So the ...
Sermon
Chrysanne Timm
... ­tary school. God looks at us crackpots that way, too. Each of us is unique — no two of us alike. God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us. And God loves us just as we are, but too much to let us stay that way. We will be remolded and reshaped by God, sometimes in dra­matic ways, sometimes in subtle, almost imperceptible ways. But no matter what, God's purpose in reshaping us is always the same: that we might more faithfully reflect God to the world around us. So let us ...
Sermon
R. Kevin Mohr
... we discovered was the key to dragging ourselves out of culture shock in Madagascar. God tells the people, in effect, to start "opening up their barrels," to get on with living, and to make themselves at home in exile. The alternative was for them to stay traumatized zombies, to remain casualties, and allow a victim mentality to hold them back from the blessings of God and from being a blessing to others. While we were wrestling with our culture shock and sitting in that dusty building in Betroka, we could ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... amazing new tourist destination called Mount Rushmore. They offered “free ice water” and bathrooms to the parched and pooped summer travelers snaking their way along the hot summer plains. People came for free ice water and rest rooms in droves. But then they stayed for an ice cream cone, a postcard, a doughnut. Eventually Wall Drug became the destination stop on the way to another destination stop. The first few billboards along I-90 grew to over 500 miles of billboards, blanketing the upper mid-west ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... was. Mother Teresa reported that there was joy on that little girl’s face, because she was with her mother, who loved her and was making special food for her in that little open place. She asked the little girl, “How is it that you would not stay with us? You had so many beautiful things in our home.” The girl answered, “I could not live without my mother. She loves me.” That little girl was happier to have the meager food her mother was cooking in the street than all the things Mother Teresa ...
4473. Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... is the place to be, the place to watch, ground zero for finding the messiah. Yet none go to Bethlehem. None join the magi in their journey. None bother to move a muscle to see if the prophecy is coming true. The religious establishment simply stay put in Jerusalem and return to their normal lives. Herod is much more prescient and pro-active. He swiftly summons the magi “in secret.” He sends them on their way to Bethlehem — but not before extracting from them a “time frame” for the birth of ...
4474. The Joy of the Lord
Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18
Sermon
King Duncan
... them outside their work. His diagnosis has an important element of truth. Even though many people feel under tremendous pressure, the average American still finds three and a half hours a day to watch television. People no longer have to struggle to stay alive, as human beings have done for most of our history. So we have more choice over our goals. Getting those choices right is the problem. (4) Recently journalist David Brooks, author of the bestseller, Bobos in Paradise, wrote a fascinating article ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... priest, who served in South Africa, tells a story about Archbishop Desmond Tutu and their fight together against apartheid many years ago. He said that often those fighting against apartheid would come into Johannesburg and rent a room for the night, where several people would stay. There might be as many as ten of these fighters in a room. One night, Peter Story says he was awakened about 4:00 in the morning by a shuffling sound over in the corner. He looked and he saw someone sitting in the corner ...
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